Every year, tragic deaths, serious injuries, and substantial property damage occur when backing vehicles. While the speeds involved may be much lower than forward operation, driver visibility and depth perception may be significantly obscured by the physical size and viewing angles available to the driver, particularly when the driver is located at a substantial distance from the back of the vehicle.
Large motor vehicles serve many functions in modern society. For example, emergency crews may operate fire trucks, ambulances, and other rescue vehicles to and from locations where they are needed to perform various emergency response functions. Professional drivers operate semi-trailer trucks or a delivery van in a fleet, for example, to deliver goods or services to their destinations. As a further example, non-commercial large vehicles, such as mobile homes or other recreational vehicles, may be driven between residential and remote locations. As further examples, garbage and recycling pick-up trucks operate in residential areas, and construction vehicles, such as dump trucks or cement trucks, operate in or around road or building construction sites.
In many situations, large motor vehicles make backing maneuvers at certain locations. At a fire station, for example, fire trucks may back into a parking position between other vehicles and/or fire station structures, such as a garage door pillar. At an emergency site, emergency vehicles may need to perform backing maneuvers to access a fire hydrant, for example. A rescue helicopter may need to land within a makeshift area near a highway crash site. At a construction site, large vehicles may need to back into a desired position from a specified direction to load supplies and equipment. In an alley, a garbage truck may perform backing maneuvers during its route.
While backing a large vehicle, the large vehicle operator may have little or no visibility in some or all of the immediate zone in the path of the backing vehicle. The size and features of the vehicle may substantially obscure the driver's view of people or objects in the vehicle's path. In some circumstances, visibility may be further limited by unfavorable lighting conditions and/or unfamiliar terrain. Ambient and/or vehicle noise, for example, may further complicate the driver's ability to detect dangerous conditions that may develop behind the backing vehicle. In some cases, radio links may not provide sufficient access to rapidly communicate safety information to a driver. For example, crowded radio channels may cut-off the ability of a spotter to “break-in” to a channel to notify a driver of a hazard when a hazard is detected.
Various published accounts suggest that backing of large vehicles can pose significant risks to both personnel and property. For example, citizens and/or fire crew personnel may be present in or near the path of a backing emergency vehicle.
In addition to safety for people, some vehicle backing operations can involve risks for potentially expensive equipment or property damage. For example, the consequences of a mishap while backing a helicopter into a hangar may include the potential for costly damage assessment and/or repair if the rotor blades impact the hangar structure.